Personally I don’t think that will be a permanent thing and he’ll soon adjust. It will just take a bit of time for the former Freiberg hitman to settle, and once he has done that we should start to see the best of him.
The problem is what to do with him now? Do we continue to play him hoping that he gets into his stride on the pitch by playing games? Or do we wrap him up in cotton wool a little bit and keep him away from the action until he is ready, in much the same way Davide Santon was wrapped up in cotton wool for a bit?
Well if you listen to Alan Pardew today, it could be the second option and a space on the bench for our new number nine.
“I can’t explain to him in great detail what I want him to do and what he can do for the team,” explained Pardew, whose side have won just one of their last six league games,” said Pardew in his pre-match press conference.
He continued: “You’re doing it through interpreters and the message can get lost. He’s a good lad and he’s diligent. He can speak four languages already so I don’t think learning another one is going to be a problem.”
“I want to protect him a little bit because he got off to such a flying start, but there was always going to be a period when he’s going to find it difficult and he has — make no bones about that.”
After explaining the difficulties the language barrier presents, Pardew then went on to explain how there are also other problems with regards to Cisse at the moment, especially with how to play him in the side effectively and play to his strengths.
Pardew said: “What I do know is that in training, his finishing is a huge asset. The problem that we’ve got at the moment is that we’re not creating enough chances for him. We’re not getting him in a position to score. So there’s no point in him being on the pitch if we’re not able to dominate the game and create chances where he can bring out what’s best in him.”
“Plus it’s a tougher league and there are more physical centre-halves here who don’t give him the time he had in the Bundesliga.”
“He’s certainly found the last couple of games tough and this Sunday, hopefully he’ll get the message that we’re trying to get to him about what he needs to do.”
So mixed messages from Alan Pardew then? On one hand he is talking about “protecting” the 26-year-old whilst in the other he is hinting that he will play against Norwich tomorrow after sitting out the Arsenal game last time.
The part about creating chances is also interesting. I think most of us aware that we aren’t exactly playing fluidly at the moment and haven’t been creating chances (aside from the second-half against the filth!) for some time now. In a sense we’ve been babysitting the back four, which we didn’t have to do with Steven Taylor in the side as much, which is having an impact on our attacking play. This video (available in the UK only unfortunately) illustrates it better than my words ever could,but it basically shows that we hold one midfielder back at all times, whether it be Cheik Tiote or Yohan Cabaye, which limits our attacking play.
So anyway, what do you do with Cisse? Do we carry on playing in the hope that he starts to come good? or do we allow him to take aback seat for a bit whilst he gets acquainted with life in a new culture and new country?
Your thoughts please?
Sell him
witters(Quote)
You’d think by now Pardew would have learn’t French
StevenGJ(Quote)
Jeez
I am not having this like, the whole team were **** in the last 3/4 games and its just lazy to blame one person just because he is new.
He got took off against wolves so how is he to blame for us losing two goals after that when he wasn’t on the pitch!
Start our strongest team, Benny r-mid, Cisse-Ba up top.
toonarm87(Quote)
He’s scored 2 in 4. What’s gonna happen when he does settle?
toonarm87(Quote)
Forgot to put in there that he has to play regardless. He is better than the other strikers so has to start regardless of any language barrier or stiff like that.
The only way id leave him out is if we played Ba up top with something like Benny and Obertan or Jonas playing off him, but I can’t see any radical changes in formation now
toonsy(Quote)
Start Cisse, one of the reasons he didn’t start Monday would have been the tactics from Pardew. Having Obertan in the team was a good idea at the time, supporting the midfield to relieve some pressure. But we are at home! same team as Monday, but swap Obertan for Cisse, and I will go for a comfortable 3-1 victory tomorrow.
Elfy_Toon(Quote)
He starts for me…
witters(Quote)
i would, Papisto, benny and demba would all start, No moaning about covering simpson we are playing norwich at sjp just like we were playing wolves and the scum at home, they should have been the ones worrying about our attacking threat not the other way round…
————————–Krul————————-
–Simpson–Williamson—Colo—Santon–
—Ben Arfa—-Tiote—–Cabaye–Jonas—-
——————-Cisse——Ba——————–
If Simpson and Tiote are injured play Santon at right back, wee fergie at left back and guthrie in the middle.
CC(Quote)
Good article Toonsy . What a a heap of **** from Pards that is. Sorry ,but i got to vent my spleen here. For a start i didn’t see the language barrier cause too many problems for Cisse against VIlla! ,and that was his first game for us and his weak foot to boot ,pardon the pun. It really beggers belief that Pards has not taken a course in French considering our vast french contingent at the club now.Ithought we had Bernard acting as interpreter ,his english is very good i’m sure he could make Cisse understand what Pards requires o.k. This seems to me a case of Cisse finding out how tough tyne wear derbies are and getting a bit overwhelmed by it all. Someone just needs to explain to him, that game is a freak of nature and if he just plays without fear in all the other games he’ll be fine. I think you have to play HBA with Cisse and Ba if they are to get any joy in front of goal ,so yes just bloody well play him and have done with it imo. 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
Pardew said there is no point playing him if we don’t create chances for him, surely that applies to all strikers, so whats he going to do, play a 4 – 6 – 0 formation with no strikers, I would have thought that if we aren’t creating many chances then its vital to put your best finishers onto the pitch, make the most out of limited chances that we get
Slant(Quote)
Kimtoon, if Pardew can’t get the message across, there are plenty French speakers in the squad who could no it for him
Slant(Quote)
CC@8 ” they should of been the ones worrying about our attacking threat not the other way round…” – Spot on ,took the words out my mouth ,i have said this often as with HBA, Cisse ,Ba and the likes of Cabs and Jonas It’s an almighty sin not to be more attack minded than we are .
kimtoon(Quote)
Slant @11 true mate ,so no excuses then.
kimtoon(Quote)
kimtoon
Mclean and richardson practically **** themselves everytime ben arfa picked the ball up and ran at them and they are both decent international players, Norwich will more than likely be playing surman and drury on the left who have spent most of their careers in the lower leagues and the centre of their defence looks a bit fizzy pop to me as well Demba and papiss with proper service could have a field day.
We have got to take the game to them.
CC(Quote)
CC@14, Agree 100% with that, I will be really miffed if we don’t take the game to them and if we get ahead by say 2 goals i want us to go for it and really finish them off. I don’t wanna see another Wolves not on our own patch , Scum was different it’s an animal that game and even then Shola and Benny killed em 2nd half . Obviously no game is easy in the PL i’m not daft enough to think a win is a forgone conclusion but we have to really lay down the gauntlet as if we lose you can kiss Europe goodbye imo.
kimtoon(Quote)
Attack Attack Attack, l agree with CC’s team…both scenarios.
richietoon(Quote)
I here as an idea why doesn’t pards tell the players to start providing and if they don’t will then take them of a give someone else a chance.
But 1st he needs to let the defenders defend and the attacking players do theirs, and not have to babysit the defence because it’s obvious that even with the babysitters we’re still not winning.
Big Dave(Quote)
morning everyone!! whats happening with tiote and simpson? are they fit for tomorrow? perch and guthrie in if they arent 😕
Army69(Quote)
Question for Statto. How many goals has Demba Ba scored when playing up top as opposed to playing off a No 9 like Best or Shola. I think that he scores more when a number 9 is on the pitch.
Therefore play Cisse with Ba & the Hatem bomb both in a 4-3-3. That was the plan when Pardew said that Cisse was the no 1 choice as Carrolls replacement. Might as well get on with it. Cant be worse than our current form.
Premandup(Quote)
Prem I would go along with that for a blast.
Army I don’t think we’ll know till the last min whats happening with Tiote and Simmo
Big Dave(Quote)
I agree with what’s being said by all, I really don’t get the thought behind leaving him out. Forget the language thing or even the chances created thing for a second, strikers play on confidence – off getting shots on target and scoring goals. A striker only needs to be in the right positions once in 90mins when they can score goals like Cisse can. Look at what easing Torres has done at Chelsea!!
I understand easing Santon in coz he is a young lad and defenders have to be on it for 90mins. Strikers can drift in and out of games. Cisse NEEDS to play to “learn on the job” and so the other plays can get used to his movement and how he likes to play ie ball to feet, balls over the top or balls in the channels.
I really really don’t get this whole “we’ll drop him coz were not creating chances???!!!”. Weirdly I’m annoyed and pleased at the same time. Annoyed that Pardew acknowledges the lack of creativity and in my opinion has done very little to address it. But also pleased that he has acknowledged it and hope to see some creative players coming in in the summer.
3-1 the toon today – 2 for Cisse and 1 for Ba
Sharpy17(Quote)
I would be very tempted ( if i was in charge ) to go back to the side that gave us such a great start to the season. Well the back 4 and the midfield.
Simpson—–Colo—–Williamson—–Raylor
Obertan—-Cabaye—-Tiote——Jonas
I think that gives us a good solid base to build on in games making us difficult to beat but enough ( imo ) to go on and win games. I would go with Ben Arfa and Ba upfront. Ben Arfa ‘ in the hole ‘ and a bit of a free role.
I know he has played there this season and it hasnt really worked but I think he is getting back to form and I think it might be his best position long term. If we need to change it we could bring on Cissie for Obertan , switch Ben Afra out right. Without trying to state to obvious we need to go on a bit of run til the end of the season to try and clinche a top 6 finish. We need to get ourselves back to been hard to breakdown and I think with Ba Ben Arfa Obertan and Jonas in the side we have enough attacking quality o beat most teams.
Johno Toon(Quote)
Start him. Play Tiote as a dedicated holding midfielder, put Cabaye on the right and have Benny just behind the front two in a diamond formation.
Cbabye is one of our most consistent and accurate crossers of the ball despite playing from central midfield. Get him out wide and those balls will be pinging in to Ba and Cisse.
With Benny sat just behind Cisse and Ba he will be free to move about and get involved where required, which means he will be more influential and will carve open space for the strikers to exploit.
No reason we cant do that in our home games with an attacking mindset, especially against Norwich, who are flat footed and direct.
It’s about time we saw some real attacking intent and Cisse is our best finisher, so lets play him.
Shamrock(Quote)
Johno Willo wasn’t part of the great start and to me is the weakest link and part of the problem
Big Dave(Quote)
He needs time to settle in my opinion. Whether that means start him Im not sure.
People will argue that Norwich should offer him chances to score and being at home will only strengthen that argument. On the other side of the coin is that if you look at the game on its own I think Nowrich will sit back so he may not get many chances created for him – at this stage he doesn’t offer the team much if we’re not creating chances.
On balance I would play Strolla and Ba with Cisse on the bench. He could come on whether we need a goal or if we’re winning and Norwich were chasing the game he would find more space and be more effective.
I personally think he will offer us more next season when he learns about the game over here and he learns about his team mates. In the meantime break him in gently.
Stuart79(Quote)
It’s a Pardew Ploy. Got to be. Make Norwich think we are struggling for ideas and are going to go 4-5-1 in an effort to convince them to have a go. Then when the game starts we go all out and foohking destroy them with Ba, Cisse and Benny running wild!
Shamrock(Quote)
Yeah that is very true Dave , clearly Saylor was in the team and is head and shoulders above willo. And i agree with what you been saying recently about if saylor was in the team , we prob wouldnt of dropped as many points as we have. But I dont see any other options in our squad so its why I have him in there.
Johno Toon(Quote)
If part of the problem is creating chances, does anyone else think it would make sense trying Benny on the left (being left footed) and Jonas on the right (being right footed)? then hopefully our strikers may see afew more crosses coming into the box?
I would also go with Fergie LB, Santon RB and Guthrie CM if Tiote and Simmo are injured. Again we’d have a right footed RB and a left footed LB who could also get crosses in on the overlap. It’s got to be worth a try if he gets that we aren’t creative enough
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, injuries or not I actually think Fergie should be starting games more regularly anyway. He’s not let us down yet and is a big talent. Give him the experience I say and save us having to make another signing in the summer after wasting yet more perfectly good youth product.
Shamrock(Quote)
Sharpy I have been saying Jonas on the right Benny on the left for yonks, im sure they would provide a lot more, or Jonas on the right Fergie on the left and Benny roaming free 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
is it to early to start a sack pardew campaign 🙄 😆
poolietoon(Quote)
i agree with stu @ 25 ,but reckon he will start loads next season when demba goes 😉
batty(Quote)
It seems Simpson/Tiote/Fergie are all struggling for tomorrow and it`s no coincidence that since Guthrie was dropped our creativity has suffered so with the players available I would go:
———————-Krul
Santon—–Willo———Collo——–Perch
Jonas—-Cabaye—Guthrie—-Benny
—————Ba——-Cisse
It means Jonas is still protecting young David but on their RIGHTFUL side, Benny can get to the bye line to whip crosses in for the Dembas. The downside is Perch potentially getting exposed too easily if Benny goes awol. But we got to score more goals than Norwich with this line up providing Willo/Collo don`t get bullied again.
CT(Quote)
CT I could well be wrong but I think it was Simmo/Perch in the middle last time we played Norwich. Willo & Colo should be much more well equipped to deal with what they throw at us, however I would expect Norwich to be defending too much to cause us a great deal of worry in our own third. If we cant go all out against these chaps and get a good win at home then we can forget top 7…
Shamrock(Quote)
CT – Fergie is fit for tomorrow, it’s Raylor that is struggling, and with Perch not having a left foot that formation looks very weak down our left side to be honest.
Shamrock – I’m a bit disappointed that Fergie doesn’t feature more awell, at least as a regular sub because I do think he’s a threat. Putting him on LM would take some of the pressure off Santon as well with Fergie running at full backs and whipping crosses in.
The more I think about it the more annoyed I get that Pardew knows were no creating but hasn’t varied the style of play or tried different players in different position. I suppose it’s hard if your picking up points but we haven’t even been doing that recently!!
Sharpy17(Quote)
I’d agree with that Sharpy., although personally I think Fergie is a sound full back who can get forward well as opposed to a winger. Every time he has played for us as a full back he has done a great job. It’s about time we had a full back that did not need supporting. Then we can get on with creating chances for Cisse!
I like Pards. He has done a lot for us since he came in, but his reluctance to experiment is certainly frustrating – especially when we are not picking up points.
Shamrock(Quote)
Sham, you are correct but Cabaye/Guthrie in the middle gotta be better option than Simmo/Perch.
Sharpy, Fergie for Perch then but Perch did ok Against **** at LB. but agree Fergie/Benny overlapping could be interesting but Collo will need to move across if/when they are out of position—-that`s the only worry I have with this lineup but it`s attack minded and hell it`s Norwich at home!!
CT(Quote)
CT – I’m confused by that last post? I was not suggesting Simmo/Perch play central midfield. I was saying I think those two were our central defence when we got hammered away at Norwich.
Shamrock(Quote)
Sham, I know what you are saying but Cabaye/Guthrie gotta do better than Simmo/Perch did last time, simples!
CT(Quote)
What, in central defence? We have Colo and Willo for that… ❓ 😉
Shamrock(Quote)
I give up, My team @ 33 with possibly Fergie if fit instead of Perch should be good enough.
Gotta go. Cheers for now.
CT(Quote)
Be clearer in what you are trying to say then?! If you are just saying we should have started Cabaye and Guthrie in central defence the last time we played Norwich, then I’d suggest we will have lost by even more goals – as neither of them are over 5’8” and neither are very good at headering…
Anyhoo, I’m off too.
Shamrock(Quote)
Na **** it sell the cont
witters(Quote)
Bloody Scum , all Everton then Scum get a goal 👿
kimtoon(Quote)
That’s better 1.1 now 😀
kimtoon(Quote)
I think tomorow is the time for Cisse to return, he was rightly dropped for 4-5-1 against Arsenal. But tomorow is a different game.
DJG(Quote)
Prem @ 19
” Therefore play Cisse with Ba & the Hatem bomb both in a 4-3-3. That was the plan when Pardew said that Cisse was the no 1 choice as Carrolls replacement. Might as well get on with it. Cant be worse than our current form.”
Totally agree. What are we waiting for? We could barely be any worse or less creative. Our recent run of ropey results extends back to November, but our actually play seems to have just completely ran out of ideas in the last 2 months.
Simpson—-Coloccini—Williamson—Santon
————————————————————
——Cabaye———Tiote———-Jonas———-
————————————————————
———————-Ben Arfa————————–
———-Cisse———————Ba——————
Yeah. It might not work and it might put extra pressure on the fullbacks etc, etc, etc.
As opposed to what?
Our ultra solid 4-4-2 in which we look so good recently?
At least if we change it it looks like we are trying to do something positive to stop our slide.
Pootle(Quote)
aargh Everton should of had a pen O’shea handball, lucky ,lucky MON
kimtoon(Quote)
football is a universal language, so that shouldnt be the problem, i think the problem is the team is being changed week in week out for what ever reason. we need a settled team again if we are to get that 5th or 6th spot.
another good article, 😉
toonsoldier9(Quote)
The criticism is baffling. The kid’s not getting any supply. How’s he supposed to score if there’s nothing coming to him. The problem is the completely unproductive midfield. We need some creativity in there. Demba & Demba will score if they get supplied.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Obertan – Been playing regularly, given chance to build up form and confidence. Praised by AP, despite lack of end result.
Cisse + Arfa – Not given a run of games and build up form, given contradictory comment by AP about their form. Did more than Obertan in a few games played in.
Did I miss something here?
zammy(Quote)